Teachers Beware: How Video Streaming Can Change the World of Education

Teachers Beware: How Video Streaming Can Change the World of Education

Technology is drastically changing the world. Every aspect of society is affected – electric cars are quickly starting to make a comeback as a real, viable alternative to combustion fuelled vehicles, while Japan’s maglev trains are the newest frontier and standard in public transport, and cloud-computing is changing the way businesses communicate and collaborate within and outside of their own sphere of influence, with as many as 82 percents of enterprises utilizing hybrid cloud computing in their business, according to RightScale.

Teachers and educators have the chance to make another leap, as well. Education today can be blamed for many of the world’s ills – it’s still old-fashioned and inefficient in many ways, conforming students to schools and school rules instead of prioritizing critical thinking and learning. But steps have been made to change that – and a big leap in the right direction is the use of video technology in the world of teaching.

Classes Don’t Need Classrooms

It may sound like a pipe-dream, but it’s true – home-schooling is a legitimate way to raise intellectual, capable young minds, and video streaming is an integral part of a good home-based education. Teachers can use video streaming to communicate with their students, teach them via video, engage in one-on-one discussions or invite the entire group of students to join in and listen, and contribute to the lesson. Education is failing even in developed countries, where the literacy rates are less than the global average noted by the National Center for Education Statistics.

Like the digital natives they are, teens would embrace video streaming-based education in a heartbeat – and when implemented right, teachers could focus on students individually without the resources needed to be a tutor in the student’s home.

In that regard, video streaming can also change the way teachers help existing students in their classrooms. When students have trouble getting the gist of a lesson, or understanding a certain concept, teachers can follow up by inviting their students to a video call after class via email and then spending some time teaching face-to-face. Students respond better when taught solo since teachers can then direct all their attention to the student and discover ways to better adapt their teaching methods to each academically-challenged individual. Most students with mediocre grades aren’t unintelligent – they just need the right teaching method.

Business Coaches Benefit, as Well

Classical teachers aren’t the only ones who benefit greatly from video streaming – in fact, the educators that should really be relying on video streaming to get their message across are business coaches. While teachers have institutionalized classrooms, educators have to rely on expensive seminars and pre-recorded video tapes to really teach their audience – but no more!

With the advent of cheaper, more effective video streaming, business coaches and educators can now call their clients into a conference and, with either a group or a single student, utilize live video streaming services by companies like Blue Jeans to teach in a more cost-efficient and effective manner. It’s a sure-fire way to boost popularity, sales; and most importantly, the actual method.

Video Streaming Allows for Larger Classes

Classrooms and seminars can only pack so many people – and more importantly, only so many people can afford the expenses to sit in a conference hall or classroom and listen to a teacher or educator. Millions of children cannot afford to attend school, let alone schools with international renown.

With a little financing from charities and other non-profit organizations, these children can attend world-class schools from their very own homes, and learn more about the world around them – eventually using what they learned to help their village cope with the environment, develop a better future for themselves, and maybe even invent ways to help the developing world in today’s hectic climate of industrialization and globalization.

Meanwhile, entrepreneurs and business people from as far as Jakarta to New York can sit down and attend the live lecture of world-renowned entrepreneurs and business magnates, without worrying about the travel expenses and attendance costs usually linked to events like these.

Device Interoperability Means Better Attendance, as Well

In the developed world – and in many urban parts of the developing world – it’s becoming more and more normal to own a smartphone, tablet, and/or home computer. The world is connected, more so than ever – according to the Internet Live Stats web page, the Internet recently hit its three billion users mark, and that number is rising exponentially as global tech giants like Facebook, Microsoft and Google make a pronounced effort to bring the Internet to as many people as possible.

Video streaming services have recognized this growth, and they understand how important it is to stay flexible when it comes to how they bring their services to the world. Thanks to innovations in tech, smartphone users can check into large-scale conference calls just as much as people on laptops and computers can – bringing the world together, a call at a time, a streaming session at a time.